Improved car-coupling



J. COUCH;

' Car Coupling. No. 49,385. Patented Aug. 15,1865.

I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH counts, on HARRISON, MAINE.

IMPROVED CAR-COUPLING.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent NO.49,3S5, dated August 15,1865.

To all whom it army concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH (JoUcH, of Harrison, in the county ofCumberland and State of Maine, have invented a new and Improved mode ofOouplingRailroad-Uars; and I do hereby declare that the following is afull and exact description thereof, reference being had to theaccompanying drawing, and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

The nature of myinvention consistsin attaching to the hunter or draw-bara lever placed on the under sideand extending back from the end of thehunter twelve or fourteen inches. This lever is suspended toafulcrum,which is secured to the under side of the hunter by screws orbolts with screw cut on the end, and a nut turned on about three inchesfrom the end of the hunter. On the outer end of the lever is riveted alip two inches wider than the throat of the hunter, and about fiveinches deep. This lip stands at'right angles with the lever, and theupper end is placed as high above the lever as the distance is from theunder side of the rim of the hunter to the throat. The lever issuspended to the fulcrum by means of an iron bar about one and ahalfinch wide and a half an inch thick, riveted to the under side of thelever, the ends turned up perpendicular and attached to the fulcrum, thearms heingjust long enough when hung to the fulcrum to let the upperedge of the lip swing clear of the under edge of the hunter. By thelevers dropping down the lip is thrown out and up to the throat of thehunter, making an inclined plane for the connecting-link to slide upinto the throat of the hunter without the assistance of a man, andmaking it unnecessary for a man to stand between the cars when they runup to couple, a place in which he is liable to get jammed or killed. Thelink is thrown in and the lip pressed back by the hunter, which raisesthe lever into a rest which is placed back of the strap that supportsthe hunter at the back end of the car.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use myinvention,I willproceed to describe its construction and operation;

I construct my lever (marked A on the accompanying drawing) from a barof iron from two to three inches wide and three-eighths of an inchthick, andcutaslot in thefront end long enough and Wide enough to workround the coupling-pin. I turn the end ofit down at right angles aboutthree inches. Onto this end I rivet the lip marked B on the accompanyingdrawing. The lever is placed in the center of the lip widthwise, and theupper end of the lip as far above the lever as the distance is from theunder edge of the rim of the hunter to the throat. The lip is aboutthree-eighths of an inch thick, two inches wider than the throat of thehunter, and deep enough to let the connecting-link strike it about aninch from the lower end.

The suspensionhar (marked 0 on the accompanyingdrawing) is about one anda halfinche wide, threeeighths of an inch thick, riveted to the underside of the lever about three inches from the lip, with the ends turnedto a perpendicular upward, with holes in the ends about a half inch indiameter, to fit to the fulcrum. These arms must be long enough whenhung to the fulcrum to let the lip swing clear of the under edge of therim of the hunter.

The fulcrum (marked D on the accompanying drawing) is about an inch anda halt wide, one-half inch thick, the ends worked ofi' round, with ashoulder to fit the arms. It must be long enough from shoulder toshoulder to reach across the under side of the hunter. It is secured tothe hunter (marked E on the accompanying drawings) by screws or bolts,with a screw cut on the end and a nut turned on, and must be placed onthe hunter so that when the lever is suspended to it by means of thearms a of the suspension-bar, and the lever is raised to a level, thelip will be perpendicular to the end of the hunter, or nearly so, andnot quite out flush with the end of the hunter. The lip is made a littledishing, so as to throw the con meeting-link to the center. The lever isabout twelve or fourteen inches long, with a knob on the back end heavyenough to hold the lip in its place when the link strikes it.

Upon the hunter, just back of the strap that supports the hunter at theend of the car, I place a rest. I construct it from a piece of plateironabout an inch wider than the hunter, and five inches deep. On each sideis riveted or welded on an arm, which reaches up the sides ofthehunterahouthalf-way. Thesearmsarelong enough to leave a throat fromthe under side of the hunter down to the upper edge of the rest(marked Fon the accompanying drawing) deep enough so that when the lever is onthe rest it Will be about level. In the ends of the the rest swings.

arms areholes, and the restis suspended to pins attached to the sides ofthe hunter, upon which Just below the pin on which the restswings, andon thefrontside ot' the armplace, is another pin, to prevent the restfrom swinging forward farther than a perpendicular. When the lever isoff the rest itdrops down and throws thelip outward and upward to thethroat of the hunter. When the car runs up to couple, the link strikesthe lip and is thrown into its place without the assistance of a man.The bunter throws the lip back out of the way and lifts the lever ontothe rest, which is placed so that when the lever rises it throws therest back till it comes up to the throat, and then it swings back underthelever two or three inches, where it remains while the cars arerunning. When the car is uncoupled the lever is dropped from the rest,and the car is ready to couple again. I

What Lclaim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The lever, with the lip and suspension-bar attached, in combination withthe fulcrum and rest, substantially as described, and for the purposesspecified.

JOSEPH COUCH.

Witnesses: WILLIAM L. PUTNAM, THOMAS M. GWIN.

